“May we contact your current employer?” What to put on the form
Keeping your search private? Say so on the form or to the recruiter, and offer someone who has agreed to talk about your work instead.
Ghosted editorialPublished 13 min read
On this page
- Three checks before you answer
- When the form asks Yes or No
- When the field is required and there’s nowhere to explain
- When the recruiter asks you directly
- Most employers contact your current job late, if at all
- Who to offer in place of your current manager
- Former employers are a different question
- Answers that cause trouble later
- A checklist before you submit
- When the offer comes
- Questions people ask about “May we contact your current employer?”
Start here
Three checks before you answer
The question looks like it wants a yes. It doesn’t. It’s asking for your permission, and the right answer depends on whether your manager knows you’re looking. Settle these three things first, then use the form or the conversation you’re in below.
- Does your manager know? If not, and you’d like it to stay that way, your answer to your current employer is “not yet”. That’s the whole decision.Yes or not yet
- When would they call? Read the form’s small print and the posting. Many say references are taken after an offer, which changes how much you need to explain.Before or after an offer
- Who can speak for your work now? Someone who has already agreed to talk about your work: a former team lead, or a colleague who knows you’re looking.Your offer instead
- What you’re asked: “May we contact this employer?” about your current job, and your search is private
What to put: No, with a line saying they can once there’s an offer
- What you’re asked: The same question, and your manager knows you’re looking
What to put: Yes
- What you’re asked: A required field for your manager’s details, with nowhere to explain
What to put: The true details, then a short email to the recruiter
- What you’re asked: A recruiter asks on a call whether they can speak to your manager
What to put: Say your search is private, and offer someone who has agreed
- What you’re asked: “May we contact this employer?” about a job you’ve left
What to put: Usually yes; if your manager has moved on, say who can confirm your work
| What you’re asked | What to put |
|---|---|
| “May we contact this employer?” about your current job, and your search is private | No, with a line saying they can once there’s an offer |
| The same question, and your manager knows you’re looking | Yes |
| A required field for your manager’s details, with nowhere to explain | The true details, then a short email to the recruiter |
| A recruiter asks on a call whether they can speak to your manager | Say your search is private, and offer someone who has agreed |
| “May we contact this employer?” about a job you’ve left | Usually yes; if your manager has moved on, say who can confirm your work |
“No” is a normal answer
Plenty of people keep a search private, and employers know why. Saying no to your current employer, with someone else offered, is a routine request. It doesn’t read as something to hide.
On the form
When the form asks Yes or No
This is the easy version. The employment history page asks about your current job, then asks whether they may contact it. Tick No. If there’s a box for anything else, use one or two sentences to say when they can, and who can speak for your work until then.
Current employer (required)
Larkfield Software
Job title (required)
Support Analyst
May we contact this employer? (required)
- Yes
- No (picked)
Anything else we should know?
Optional
My manager doesn’t know I’m looking yet. You’re welcome to contact Larkfield once there’s an offer. Sam Ortiz, my former team lead, can talk about my work before then.
Three sentences: why not now, when they can, and who instead. No apology and no story about why you’re leaving. The reason is obvious to anyone who has hired before, and the line about after an offer tells them you aren’t hiding anything.
No box at all? Tick No and leave it there. You’ll say the rest when references come up, or in a line to the recruiter if you have one. A form with a Yes and a No is expecting both answers.
Why they ask at all
Mostly to confirm facts. Indeed’s guide to the question says employers ask so they can check details such as your job title and dates, and that they understand when you ask them not to contact your current employer.
No way around it
When the field is required and there’s nowhere to explain
This is the version people get stuck on. The references page wants your current manager’s name, email and phone. Every field has an asterisk. There’s no Yes or No, and no box to say “not yet”. The form won’t submit until they’re filled.
Current manager’s name (required)
Empty
Manager’s email (required)
Empty
Manager’s phone (required)
Empty
Fill in the true details. Not a friend’s number, not a made-up address, not “N/A” in a field that wants an email. Those come back at the worst moment, usually when an offer depends on the check. Then send the recruiter a short email straight after you submit, asking them to check with you before they contact your employer. Replace everything in square brackets.
Subject: [Role] application: contacting my current employer
Hi [Name],
I’ve just applied for the [Role] role. The form asked for my current manager’s details, and I’ve given them. My manager doesn’t know I’m looking yet, so could you let me know before you contact [Current employer]?
[Reference name], my former team lead at [Company], has agreed to talk about my work if you need a reference before then.
Thanks, [Your name]
Filled in, it reads like this:
Subject: Support Engineer application: contacting my current employer
Hi Jo,
I’ve just applied for the Support Engineer role. The form asked for my current manager’s details, and I’ve given them. My manager doesn’t know I’m looking yet, so could you let me know before you contact Larkfield?
Sam Ortiz, my former team lead at Brookside, has agreed to talk about my work if you need a reference before then.
Thanks, Alex
No contact to send it to? Look for a careers or recruitment address on the employer’s site, or the name in the confirmation email. If there’s truly nobody, the form’s own small print is your next stop: many say when references are taken.
Read the small print first
Look under the references page, in the privacy notice or in the help text. A line like “we only contact referees after an offer” answers the question for you, and makes the email a courtesy rather than a request.
Before you submit, if you can
If you already have a recruiter’s email, ask before you fill it in. The same email works with “I’m about to apply” in place of “I’ve just applied”.
On a call
When the recruiter asks you directly
Sometimes there’s no form. The recruiter asks on a screening call, often near the end, in a tone that suggests it’s routine. It usually is. Answer the same way you would on paper: not yet, here’s who instead, does that work?
Before we move you forward, would it be all right for us to speak to your current manager?
My manager at [Current employer] doesn’t know I’m looking yet, so I’d rather you spoke to them once there’s an offer. [Reference name], my former team lead at [Company], has agreed to talk about my work. Would that work for this stage?
Said out loud, it can be shorter still:
My manager doesn’t know I’m looking yet. Would my former team lead work for this stage? Sam managed me for two years and has already said yes.
The question at the end matters. It hands the decision back to them, and it gets you a straight answer about what they accept. If they say they need your current employer at some point, ask when. “Once there’s an offer” is the answer you’re hoping for, and a common one.
If they push
“I’m happy for you to contact them once there’s an offer” is a complete answer. You don’t need to explain your manager, your team or your reasons. Repeat it once, calmly, and offer the other reference again.
When they call
Most employers contact your current job late, if at all
The fear behind the question is a call to your manager before you’ve got anything. In practice, references usually come near the end of a process, and the current employer often comes last of all.
In the UK, Acas’s guidance on references says it’s best for an employer to ask for references at the final stage, when making a job offer. It also says that before approaching your current employer, the recruiting employer should have made a conditional offer and have your permission. Practice elsewhere varies, so ask the recruiter when they take references. It’s an ordinary question.
- Stage: You apply
What usually happens: The form asks for permission, and sometimes for details
- Stage: Interviews
What usually happens: Reference checks usually wait until the end
- Stage: An offer
What usually happens: Often made conditional on references and other checks
- Stage: You accept
What usually happens: References are taken, then the offer is confirmed
| Stage | What usually happens |
|---|---|
| You apply | The form asks for permission, and sometimes for details |
| Interviews | Reference checks usually wait until the end |
| An offer | Often made conditional on references and other checks |
| You accept | References are taken, then the offer is confirmed |
That last row is why “once there’s an offer” works for both sides. The employer gets its reference before anything is final. You don’t tell your manager until there’s something real to tell.
Ask the recruiter
- When
- “When in the process do you take references?”
- Who
- “Do you need my current employer, or will a former manager do for now?”
- How
- “Is it a call, an email or a form?”
Instead
Who to offer in place of your current manager
Saying no works best with a name attached. Pick someone who saw the kind of work this job needs, and ask them before you write their name anywhere.
A former manager or team lead
The obvious choice. They managed you, they can talk about how you work, and contacting them tells nobody at your current job anything.
A colleague at your current job who knows
If you’ve been in the job a while, a reference from there helps. Indeed suggests a colleague, a peer in another department or someone you manage, as long as they know the call is coming.
Someone who left your current employer
A manager or senior colleague who has since moved on saw your current work and can talk about it freely. Often the best of both.
A client or a team you supported
Useful alongside a manager, not in place of one. They can speak to your work from the receiving end.
Ask them first, then brief them on the role. The guide to asking someone to be a reference has the emails. Never had a manager to ask? See who can be a reference if you’ve never had a manager.
A job you’ve left
Former employers are a different question
The same form often asks about every job on your history, not just the current one. For jobs you’ve left, the usual answer is yes. There’s no search to protect, and a no there invites a question you’d rather not answer.
Your old manager has moved on
Say so in the box, and give the HR or general contact for confirming dates. If you have a written reference from that job, offer it.
The company has closed
Say that it closed. A manager or colleague from there can still speak to your work, wherever they are now.
You left on bad terms
Still say yes, and offer someone else from that job who saw your work. A no on one job in the middle of your history stands out more than a cool reference.
Some employers only confirm your title and dates, whoever is asked. Acas calls this a basic reference: a short statement of the job title and the dates you worked there. If you know a past employer works that way, tell the recruiter, so a short answer isn’t mistaken for a lukewarm one.
A reference has to be fair
In the UK, Acas says details in a reference must be fair and accurate. If you’re worried about what a former employer might say, that guidance is the place to start.
What goes wrong
Answers that cause trouble later
Ticking Yes to look keen
If your manager doesn’t know, a yes is permission you didn’t mean to give. A no with someone else offered looks just as keen.
Made-up or wrong details
A friend’s number or an old address gets the form through and fails the check. It looks far worse than a polite “not yet”.
No with nothing else
A bare no on a call leaves them with nowhere to go. Say when they can, and who instead.
Naming someone who hasn’t agreed
A reference caught off guard sounds unsure, and unsure reads as doubt about you. Ask first, every time.
Leaving the job off
Hiding your current job to avoid the question creates a gap they’ll ask about. Keep the job on, and answer the question.
Saying no for good
Once there’s an offer, many employers will want your current employer after all. Plan for that moment instead of hoping it won’t come.
Last look
A checklist before you submit
Afterwards
When the offer comes
This is the point you said yes to. The employer may now ask to contact your current job, and it’s fair to agree. Read what the offer depends on before you tell your manager anything or resign: if it’s conditional on references, wait until those are done and the offer is confirmed in writing.
If the offer came on a call and the letter hasn’t arrived, here’s what to do while you wait for it. If you need a few days to think, ask for more time. Either way, tell your references how it turned out.
Questions
Questions people ask about “May we contact your current employer?”
Will saying no hurt my chances?
Not usually, on its own. Many people keep a search private, and recruiters hear “not until there’s an offer” all the time. Offering someone else to speak to your work matters more than the no.
Can they contact my employer without asking?
The question on the form is them asking. In the UK, Acas’s guidance says an employer should have your permission, and a conditional offer, before approaching your current employer. Elsewhere, ask the recruiter how they handle it.
What if the form won’t submit without my manager’s details?
Fill in the true details, then email the recruiter straight away asking them to check with you before contacting your employer, and offer someone who can speak to your work in the meantime.
Should I say yes for former employers?
Usually. If your manager has left or the company has closed, say so and offer HR or another person from that job.
Who should I offer instead of my current manager?
Someone who saw your work and has agreed: a former manager or team lead, a colleague who knows you’re looking, or someone who has left your current employer.
What if I’ve been at my current job for years?
Then a reference from there helps most. Ask a colleague you trust who knows you’re looking, or a former colleague who saw your work there.
Do I need to explain why I’m leaving?
Not on the form. “My manager doesn’t know I’m looking yet” is all the reason anyone needs. Save the why for the interview, if they ask.
Know who may call, and when.
Keep each application with the references you offered and what you agreed about your current job.